Arequipa - Museum of Andean Sanctuaries Museo Santuarios Andinos

The unique Museo Santuarios Andinos (Museum of Andean Sactuaries) focuses on the Inca Empire and high altitude finds. Exhibits include mummies discovered at high elevations on volcanoes and related artifacts found in the tombs such as ceramics, textiles, and carvings.

The most significant find displayed in the Museum of Andean Sactuaries is the body of a young girl known as Jaunita, the Ice Maiden of Mount Ampato. Juanita was discovered in 1995 at the top of Mount Ampato, when the volcano erupted and melted the glacial peak, exposing the body. The girl, approximately 12 or 13 years old at the age of her death, is thought to have been a ritual sacrifice by Inca priests.

These remains, which are almost 600 years old were well preserved by the ice on the volcanoe. Juanita was found with a variety of ceremonial offerings which can also be seen here. The body is displayed in a glass freezer at the Museum of Andean Sactuaries.